The coldblood trotter

In Norway there are two kinds of harness horses: the American Standardbred is the warmblood trotter, and the Norwegian breed is the coldblood trotter.

The coldblooded trotter is bred from the Norwegian light draft horse, the Dole Horse. The Dole Horse is the largest of the Norwegian native horse breeds

Veikle Balder (1849 - 1873)
is the foundation sire of the Dole horse and the coldblood trotter. Veikle Balder was mostly a Dole horse, but his grandsire was the English thoroughbred Odin (by Partisan). Until the 1870s, Norwegian farmers only bred the Dole horse. The Dole horse was known for their good temper, willingness to work hard, and being inexpensive to maintain. They were very useful family horses, getting lumber out of the woods, carving fields to make oats and getting hay from the fields, etc.

From 1872, the Dole horse was bred in two different manners. The better gaited trotters with speed were bred to be racehorses. These horses had a more natural trot and competed in races on the icy lakes of Norway. This was the origin of the coldblood trotter.

However, many farmers still needed the Dole horse to help with farm chores. Today, the Dole horse and the coldblood belong to the same horse register, but few people mix the two breeds. The breeders of racehorses (coldbloods) do not want to breed to work horses (the Dole horse). Conversely, the breeders of the Dole horse want more of a farm horse than a racehorse.

SIRE LINES LEADING TO VEIKLE BALDER

BREEDING THE COLDBLOODS

CONFORMATION

TRAINING AND RACING THE COLDBLOOD

SOUNDNESS

COLDBLOODS INTERNATIONALLY